Legal syncretism or the theory of unity in diversity as an alternative to legal pluralism in Indonesia
International Journal of Law and Management
ISSN: 1754-243X
Article publication date: 9 August 2021
Issue publication date: 11 November 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Legal syncretism seeks to provide a rather different account of how laws interact with one another as the people deal with them. The purpose of this study is to provide a rather different account of how laws interact with one another as the people deal with them in the society.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper discusses the current concept of legal pluralism as to whether it really holds as the right theory for building a harmonious and trustworthy legal system in a multi-cultural country such as Indonesia. This study involves socio-legal research drawing on empirical data. It discusses the practice of legal pluralism in Indonesia by analyzing the characteristics of her legal system, especially the roles of customs and religion in it.
Findings
The research, conducted in five Indonesian cities, reveals that the current proposal of legal pluralism is not really helping to solve the difficulties faced by the Indonesian legal system. Therefore, this paper proposes legal syncretism or the theory of unity in diversity (bhineka tunggal ika) as an alternative to help cope with some of the difficulties faced by many legal systems in developing countries, especially Indonesia.
Originality/value
Although legal pluralism sounds promising, wrong and misleading interpretations have been provided by many of its proponents. Legal pluralism has been touted by many socio-legal scholars as a key concept in the analysis of law. Yet, after almost 20 years of such claims, there has been little progress in the development of the concept. Despite these confident pronouncements and the apparent unanimity that underlie them, however, the concept gives rise to complex unresolved problems. Legal syncretism seeks to provide a rather different account of how laws interact with one another as the people deal with them.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to PUSaKO (Center for Constitutional Studies) of the Faculty of Law Andalas University Padang for supporting this research. We thank everyone who supported this study including Prof. Dr.Kurnia Warman, Feri Amsari, Charles Simabura, Dr. Khairul Fahmi and the great team at PUSaKO.
Citation
Isra, S. and Tegnan, H. (2021), "Legal syncretism or the theory of unity in diversity as an alternative to legal pluralism in Indonesia", International Journal of Law and Management, Vol. 63 No. 6, pp. 553-568. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLMA-04-2018-0082
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited